Lord of the Rings Online

r/lotro•63.6K subscribers•22 active
Helpful Links and FAQ - The Lord of the Rings Online (2023 Edition)

Updated February 21, 2024 - Added recent thread of Steam Deck Layouts for LOTRO

Welcome to Middle-earth!

Official Developer Pages
Discord

NOTE: We have a number of active community-run Discord servers here, some with very similar names (as you can tell). There's a lot of overlap, so choose the ones that fit your needs. Some also offer support for our Spanish, German, and French language communities.

Gameplay Guides
News, Commentary, and Community
Resources and Utilities
FAQ

Is it too late for me to get into this game?

Not at all! LOTRO is still under active development and receiving regular updates, both to level-cap zones and low-level zones, along with the occasional expansion. For players who really value the raiding and endgame experience, there are kinships on most servers built around precisely that. For those who value a more casual experience, there is a great community, over a decade's worth of content to see, and one of the largest game worlds in existence to explore. Whatever your goal, the community can help you get there.

Is this game really F2P? If not, what do I need to buy?

As of April 2022, LOTRO's F2P model was reworked so that a majority of the game can be played without a subscription.

As a result, LOTRO players will not need to make any content purchases until after the Helm's Deep expansion, which concludes at around level 95. Here's a quick breakdown of how to access the game's content:

  • Level 1-95: Free for all players

    • NOTE: This currently excludes the newest low-level zones, which can be accessed with an Active VIP Subscription or Direct Purchase:

      • Swanfleet and Cardolan (new starter zones included in the Before the Shadow expansion)
      • The Yondershire
      • The Wildwood of Bree-land
      • The Angle of Mitheithel

  • Level 95-130: Active VIP Subscription or Direct Purchase of Quest Packs is required.

  • Level 130-140: Direct purchase of the Fate of Gundabad expansion is required.

  • Level 140-143: Active VIP Sub or Direct Purchase of the Gondor Renewed Quest Pack is required.

  • Level 143-150: Direct purchase of the Corsairs of Umbar expansion is required.

Likewise, most of the premium classes and one of the new races will be free for all. The only ones that will be available for purchase will be the Brawler class, Mariner class, the Stout-Axe Dwarf race, and the River Hobbit race.

For a more detailed rundown of the various account types, check the guide on LOTRO Wiki.

Which class should I play?

All of the classes have their place, but it mostly depends on what is most fun for you. The LOTRO Wiki page on the classes can help you get a better sense of what each class excels at in most instances. And community member Louey7 has an entire YouTube playlist dedicated to showing off how each class plays.

If you're just looking for a good solo class to take through the world, a common recommendation is the Hunter. They can keep consistent damage at range and up close, and have good crowd control. They also have the rare ability to fast travel around Middle-earth once you've appeased the appropriate faction of each zone, which makes getting around a breeze. If you prefer melee classes, then give the Champion a look!

Which race should I play?

In general, your race selection will not have a great impact on your class. The biggest differences will be your starting zone and flavor text along the journey, so don't hesitate to pick a race that you like. If you value getting the absolute best out of your class for instances/raids, however, each race has a set of traits that might synergize better with a certain class.

Which server should I choose?

There's no wrong choice, but this might help narrow things down. The ten standard servers currently accommodate two regions: North America and Europe. From there, each region has at least one Role-Play server: Landroval in NA (where RP is encouraged, not enforced) and Laurelin (English) and Belegaer (German) in EU.

There are also some servers that officially (and unofficially) support folks and languages of certain regions:

  • Oceania = Arkenstone (Unofficially)

  • Germany = Belegaer and Gwaihir

  • France = Sirannon

Keep in mind, though, that while you can always create a new character on another server, transferring an existing character between servers is a paid service. Also, characters cannot be transferred between NA and EU servers. So don't put too much time into a character unless you're certain you've found a server you enjoy!

What are the developers doing about lag?

The engine that LOTRO was built upon is fairly old. There are bits of code buried in there that date back to Asheron's Call 1 & 2 over twenty years ago. To make matters worse, there are parts of the engine that just weren't futureproofed to last almost two decades! As a result, the lag that you might experience in-game likely has several sources, which means several fixes. The devs have already implemented updates to combat lag, but it will likely require several more to get lag under control. It is always being worked on, however.

Some possible ways to alleviate lag if you begin to experience it: 1) Install LOTRO to a SSD. 2) Be sure that you are using the 64-bit client, which can be checked via the launcher. 3) Max out the "Texture Cache Size" option in your Adv. Graphics settings. 4. Set the "Engine Speed" to Maximum in the Troubleshooting tab in your settings.

For further information, please see WeirdJediLotro's compilation of all the times the devs have discussed lag during recent streams.

What makes this game unique?

  • It uses JRR Tolkien's work as the foundation for all content - This is a big draw for many LOTR fans, because SSG (and Turbine before them) are absolutely committed to adhering as close to Tolkien lore as possible any time they add new content to the game. So much that SSG have a resident loremaster on staff whose job is to deep dive Tolkien texts, medieval literature, linguistics, as well as coordinate with other Tolkien experts such as the Tolkien Professor to ensure they are as accurate as possible. Of course, they have to bend the rules and fill-in-the-blanks occasionally in the name of fun, but chances are almost certain that if something is mentioned in the books, it's in the game. Check out this interview to hear the team discuss Tolkien.

  • LOTRO's Middle-earth is one of the biggest game worlds in existence - Seriously. After over a decade of consistent updates, the current map can take a player a little under three hours to ride from one end of the map (Thorin's Hall) to the other (Mordor). Taking into account all of the zones on either side of that route, that's a lot of Tolkien's rich world to get lost in and explore.

  • The community - There will always be bad apples in any game, but the community at large in LOTRO is known for being both helpful and creative. Concerts and other community-run events are quite common across most servers. Whether it's looking for folks to run content, explore the world, play music, or just to chat, LOTRO's got it.

  • That classic MMO feel - This may actually be a turn-off for some, but LOTRO came around in the days when MMOs still had to be massive and running content required some coordination with friends or the community. LOTRO has become a marriage of new and old over the years, but it's never quite lost that feel that was common among its contemporaries back in the early 2000s.

What's there to do in this game?

You can absolutely jump off the prow of Minas Tirith, Denethor-style. You can make the four hour trek from the Shire to Mordor as a 1 HP chicken. You and your band can break the lore and play "Concerning Hobbits" from the movies outside The Prancing Pony. And even swim through Smaug's treasure horde inside Erebor like Scrooge McDuck.

You can grow pipe-weed in the Shire, track the path of the Fellowship (and clean up some of their messes), decorate your house in Bree or The Shire or Rohan with items you've collected from your journey, explore iconic locations from the books, follow the main storyline across Middle-earth and all the way into Mordor and beyond. Outside of the standard MMO features, LOTRO provides a lot of room to create the experience you want.

"You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

Pinnedby outbound_flightLandroval
141
17
1.2y
Weekly new player thread: Just starting or thinking about it? Ask your questions here!Official
Pinnedby NemarusModeratorLandroval
46
42
1d
Payment system is a mess

I'm confused. On their website it says the subscription is 12,99€ which is a fair price for a MMORPG sub. However, you can't buy the sub through the website and have to log in and buy in the ingame shop. Alright, opening the ingame shop I see the price of 14,99 USD. Which, converted to euros is not the same price as stated on the website, but anyway. I try to buy the sub and they are adding a tax to the sub of 2,85 USD which brings the total to 17,84 USD for a sub. Which converted is 16,4€, which is 3.4€ more than stated on the website and way more than even modern games like FF14 or WoW.

I also can't pay through paypal or steam wallet on the steam version, which doesn't even make sense. And I've found a thread with lots of people complaining about the same problem which is over a year old and still hasn't been addressed. Interestingly, I can pay just fine with paypal on the separate non-steam client (yes, I really had to download a separate client just to buy something from the shop).

All in all I've got to say I've never seen a more confusing, nonsensical payment system for a game ever. I get that the game is very old but it looks like even the payment system is stuck somewhere in 2007.

by mexbesa
9
11
2h
How Exactly Does Stout-Axe Needful Ingenuity Work?

Equipping this trait provides a +5% Craft Experience Modifier. The LOTRO Wiki states it affects all Cook, Jeweller, Metalsmith, Scholar, Tailor, Weaponsmith, and Woodworker recipes.

But from my understanding, virtually all (if not all) recipes provide ~4 - 10 crafting exp when completed. So within this range are there fractions of crafting exp that accumulate? Like if I craft a Scroll of Elder Battle Lore, instead of getting 10 Craft EXP, I would get 10.5? If I craft an Above Weathertop painting (because Middle Earth needs more of these), instead of getting 4 Craft EXP, I would get 4.2?

Or do the fractions get rounded up (or down)? Would I not see a bonus unless I craft something that grants 20 Craft EXP?

by BrombadegLandroval
3
3
2h
Which expansion is worth the money?

The following expansions are on sale: *Fate of Gundabad *War of Three Peaks *Minas Morgul *Mordor

Which one should I get ? I have a level 50 Elven Hunter.

by TheManMechanical
3
16
3h
What do I have to be aware of when starting in a new server?

Playing in Landroval. feeling like no one's here, and all my friends are elsewhere. I'm a returning player, and I'm thinking about starting a new character (probably champion, hunter, or warden) in a new server. What and what will come with me? Hopefully the expansions I've bought, no? what about other things? Any tips on getting started? What should I be aware of? Thank you so much in advances!

by PimsriReddit
10
6
9h
Confused About New Toon Experience

Hi, all!

I'm a lifetime account owner from way back when and I return to the game every couple of of years or so. I jumped back in this week, bought all the new content, and started a new toon.

Then a friend wanted to crank up an older lowbie toon they have so that we can play together. The issue is that I think I'm on completely different content?

Their toon is lvl 17, just got to Bree and is on Book 1 Ch 1 of the main story. I'm in Cardolan and lvl 18 with no sign of being sent to Bree any time soon.

How do I get on the same track with her?

by JackBinimbul
-
2
35m
Can someone please tell me why my crafted items keep with slightly lower stat bonus than they should?

When I am attempting to craft a piece of jewelry that has +35 Agility, +20 Might, and +19 Fate, it comes out as +34, +19, and +18. What gives?

by CaptainGunNerd
16
16
18h
Quick slot question

Hello, I am trying to reduce my quick slot bars down to 8 buttons instead of 12. Is this possible to do?

by DependentArm5437
6
5
14h
Constant freezing when playing on Linux via Steam/Proton 9.0-2

I recently converted my OS from Windows 10 to Ubuntu 24.04, in part because I would still be able to play LOTRO by using Proton on Steam. However, recently, when I log in and play, after some time, anywhere from 10-45 minutes, my connection gets faulty and generally I can't move my character forward, back, left, or right, but I can spin. Wondering if anyone else who plays on a Linux OS via Steam / Proton have this issue? Otherwise, I'm thinking it could be a recent update of Ubuntu.

by pippinsfollyCrickhollow
1
3
9h
Best RP server

So I’m wanting to get back into the game, I stopped around Rohan but after rereading the books I want back in. Anyway I’m looking for the most active RP server, from what iv seen it looks like it’s either Landroval or Laurelin. What are the pros of each? And are their any big guilds recruiting with an active RP and raid scene welcoming newish players?

by Intelligent-Target57
14
9
1d
My .abc file will not show

I created an song file in Microsoft text, made sure the extension was .abc, put it where all my music files are, but I cannot load it. Songbook doesn't list it, and I cannot load it manually. Any suggestions?

(Never mind. I forgot to rerun Songbooker. Now I gotta figure out what is wrong with my notation.

by Independent_Sail_552
7
1
1d
Which Server?

Which server should I choose? I come from Germany. I could Speak English a little bit

by Lanky-Inflation9330
11
12
1d
Can't destroy old legendary... Help!

Hello everyone,

the option to destroy the old legendary and to get all the goods out doesn't show in my menu... How is that?

Thanks for any tips in the right direction!

by LarsFromAustria
7
4
1d
How do you like Umbar feeling wise related to Lotr and what comes after?Spoiler

Basically as it says in the title; i really enjoyed Minas Morgul and the feeling it created. Gundabad less so tough still some resemblence to the main LotR story.

Yet Umbar did not click with me, feels somewhat out of place and even tough i know it exists in the canon and its depiction is probably pretty good - does not create the same vibes as a Questline building up to shelob for example.

How do you feel about it?

And what comes next? Are we due more distant areas mostly not related to the LotR story? Or are we perhaps coming back? Are there any major story strings tying the story of Gundabad to the main plot?

For example i enjoyed Azanulbizar, perhaps some more of that sort of throwback? Or have all the closely related story parts been told already?

by Decoutan
47
26
2d
Play now or wait for Mordor?

I'm currently torn on what to do. I have a lvl 20 character on Evernight so not much progress yet. Most players are on cap and nobody will ever want to do low to mid level dungeons with me.

On Mordor there will probably be no lag due to server location and the lvl cap is low, which is pretty cool. But I'm afraid the population will leave and I will be stuck on a dead server. What do you think, will Mordor have stable pop due to being EU based? Also, what will exp rates be like? Do you think it's worth start there or stay on Evernight?

by mexbesa
13
17
2d
Returning on/off player lookingfor advice on new dwvelopments

Hi all, I've been playing LOTRO since 2010 or so on and off, never seriously. Returning recently for another fix and looking for so.e advice.

What are the two new classes like? I unlocked Beorning a while back but never played it, and not looming at brawler and mariner. I'm more of a WoW/DnD player, are there class parallels? I previously raised a runekeeper and captain to mid-70s and more recently enjoyed a warden, but she's still sub-40.

I also have the option of a few extra expansions, most of which I would ignore ore u till they were relevant to me, but Before the Shadow seems like a good amount of content for a new character. How much is included?

I've also seen a few mentions of a legendary server being released soon, what's the deal with them? And would it be worth waiting to start a new character on Mordor EU, whenever that releases? When would that be?

Also looking for any other essential purchases, I'm sitting on about 30k store points that have accrued since last time I played.

by Deadbeat85
12
6
2d
Is it worth it to return ?

Im thinking to get back into LOTRO, I never really got deep into it cause I didnt understand a lot. Is it still worth it to return and try to learn all the systems ? Are there endgame activitys that I can do once I reach the game and how do I check wich expansion I own and which I dont ?

Thanks for reading and answering :)

by ZaarakxGwaihir
15
27
2d
What's your favorite NPC song?

I always loved this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOf8fVrOJzE

by Gordongodtnok
20
7
2d
How vital do you think it is to have watched/read LOTR to enjoy LOTRO fully ?

Hey! Redownloaded the game after me and my friend gave it a go in 2017. We both loved it, not sure why we stopped playing but we are both giving it a go again 6 years later! I love how immersive the world feels, but I feel as though I’m an outcast for not having any prior knowledge of lotr.

I’m kind of new into high fantasy stories, as they’ve never taken interest in me before I got a little older. I adore Harry Potter but aside from that I’m a complete noob to the massive lore that these stories often hold, and I know that it will enrich my experience but I really want to hold off on diving into a show that I just don’t have time for. What do you think? How many others here have not seen the books/movies and what is your take on it? I don’t wanna rob myself of a cool experience but I’ve always struggled to focus on a long, serious story.

by Fluffy_Target_5550
32
44
2d
Sale question

On the LOTRO launcher it says multiple expansions are on sale but on the LOTRO website they're regular price

by cowboyballer18
4
6
2d
Are these crafting mats still of interest to people?

I'm having a massive clearout on my vaults as I've decided not to bother with professions any more. This includes mats from all professions. (I'm on Laurelin)

Are these items still of interest to people for crafting?

Anfalas Star-lit Crystal and similar

Compendium of Middle-earth, Volume i and similar

worn Symbol of Celebrimbor and similar

I couldn't find them on offer on the AH so I have no idea what they might be going for.

by Elfiemyrtle
25
10
2d
Is it still possible to craft the item: Lore-master's Staff of the First Age?

I was wondering if it is even still obtainable, i feel like even the recipe (or learned recipe) was deleted from the game...

by farmingfox28
7
11
2d
Silliness: Invent as many silly future class names as you can

Minimal details, just names. Imagine stretching the lore. I'll start.

Sandmage

Eaglefriend

Drakerider

Wraithborn

Punter (requires Battleboots)

Woodsinger (Bombadil abilities)

by NemarusLandroval
9
17
2d
[LFF; Laurelin] Levelling is best as a group and at diff. 9 (Heroic +2) - missing the „MM“ of „MMO“

Heya, after a hiatus of about a decade, nostalgia brought me back to LOTRO. I’ve never experienced any group content past Moria and missed out on a lot of the group action before that.

The game has apparently become trivially easy and, thus, the landscape difficulty feature is a complete game changer for me! (Literally.)

My character (captain) is currently at lvl 36 and I was delighted to see that on Laurelin still many people start new characters.

If you are on a similar level with a toon on Laurelin, also love Heroic +2, and are looking for a companion to join you on your quest to protect Middle Earth, please drop me a DM and let‘s connect.

by IliasBethomael
8
6
3d
There's just something special about Lone-Lands
There's just something special about Lone-Lands
by xollerx
272
26
3d
We defeated the Mordor Test Server fighting a Nazgul! XD (image capture moments before server crash)Event
We defeated the Mordor Test Server fighting a Nazgul! XD (image capture moments before server crash)
by object404Evernight
152
20
3d